Sara Gon: The oldest hatred and its newest mutations: antisemitism's enduring lies

Antisemitism has surged globally since October 7, 2023, with Jews facing violence and intimidation from both the political left and right, and from Muslim communities across Europe and America. Writing in the Daily Friend, Sara Gon traces the phenomenon from its Byzantine-era Christian roots through to today's iterations — blood libels reinvented as vaccine conspiracies, Holocaust trivialisation, and the framing of Israel as a genocidal state. Gon argues the "genocide" charge requires redefining the word itself, that Palestinian healthcare responsibility rests with the PA under Oslo, and that Western leadership's failure to confront antisemitism directly represents a betrayal of its own foundational values..By Sara Gon*.This phenomenon has seen Jews murdered, assaulted, spat at and verbally attacked.It has emanated from the Left and the Right in the West, and from Muslims in both Europe and America. The birth of Christianity was by no means the beginning of antisemitism, but it became the precursor to the violent antisemitism that has dogged Jewry to this day.The foundations of ongoing antisemitism were, first, the accusation that the Jews killed Jesus Christ. This was used to fuel competition between Jews and the Jewish-Christian sects for adherents in the Byzantine era. Second, was that the Jews, all Jews, bore that responsibility for all time and eternally.Tropes and liesThe historic tropes about Jews included a claim that they used the blood of Christian children to make unleavened bread (matzo), and that they drank the blood. Non-Jews then regarded Jews as swine and as harbingers of disease.Over time the libels against Jews came to include the accusation that they were taking over the world’s financial systems and media, that they were responsible for creating communism, and, at the same time, for perpetuating capitalism.Covid-19 was held to be the responsibility of the Jews: as was the accusation that the Jews were responsible for the Black Death in the 14th century. Covid-19 was deemed to be the fault of the Jews, the Zionists and/or the state of Israel.Ironically and not uncommonly, says political commentator Melanie Phillips, this phenomenal success has helped to engender another mutation of the antisemitic blood libel. Unsurprisingly, the mainstream Western media misrepresented Israel’s vaccination programmes, snidely suggesting that Israel was obliged to and had failed to vaccinate the Palestinians. There was no such obligation, except to the Arab citizens of Israel. The obligation to vaccinate the Palestinians lay with the rulers of the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.The Palestinians are not nor do they want to be Israeli: the organisations representing Palestinians want to take over the Israeli state to make it an Arab Muslim-controlled entity. This is foundational to Hamas and is often expressed as a goal by the Palestinian authority.The famous Oslo Interim Peace Accords signed on 28 September 1995, and witnessed and guaranteed by the EU, Russia, the United States and others, provide the following:1. Israel neither occupies the Gaza Strip nor the Palestinian areas of the disputed West Bank. Israel withdrew from these areas pursuant to the 1993-5 Oslo Accords, when security and all civilian powers and responsibilities were transferred to the Palestinian authority, as an internationally recognised proto-state. 2. The Oslo Accords established an agreed-upon legal administration governing the territories.3. Article 17 of the Oslo Accords Civilian Protocol fully empowered and budgeted for the PA to take upon itself all responsibility for health care in the territories under its control. This includes vaccination of the Palestinian population against epidemics. 4. This agreement applies to the PA’s responsibility for vaccinating its 1.5 million residents in the West Bank and 1.8 million residents in Gaza.The Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr Mai al-Kaila, who herself was vaccinated by Israel, refused to purchase vaccines from Israel. She wanted to avoid being called a ‘traitor’ for breaking the PA boycott of all cooperation with Israel.Israel vaccinated more Arab Muslim men, women and children as a percent of its total population than any other Arab country in the Middle East region.Subsequently, Israel assisted the World Health Organisation to distribute vaccines to the Palestinians. The media have ignored this, and continued to promote the vaccine libel against Israel.As Phillips says, accepting that the Palestinian Arabs are actually responsible for administering their own healthcare drives a hole through the central falsehood that Israel is only an ‘occupying’ and ‘oppressive’ force.The libels reflect a key characteristic of antisemitism, namely, a pathological jealousy that is evidence of Jewish exceptionalism. Phillips posits that this pathology is so twisted that some are even jealous of the ‘exceptional’ nature of Jewish suffering, which provokes the ludicrous complaint that the Jews ‘suck up all the victimhood so there’s none left for the rest of us.’ Israel has become the military superpower in the Middle East. Its scientific and societal achievements are extraordinary. This evidence of exceptional Jewish achievement needs to be denied, repudiated or twisted into its opposite. It was this moral standard Hitler most hated about the Jews. One of the most abhorrent libels has been the trivialization, or even denial, of the Holocaust. Worse is the allegation that the Israeli treatment of Palestinians is reminiscent of the Nazi treatment of the Jews. The only reason for making these accusations can be to profoundly insult and hurt Jews.Origins of modern antisemitismModern Western antisemitism dates back to the false allegation that Jews assassinated Tsar Alexander II in 1881. Antisemitism grew across Europe, as Jews fled persecution to be confronted by increasing hatred. It has always been convenient to hate the Jews as the scapegoat for societies’ ills.Russian and eastern European Jews sought refuge in the new world: the United States, Canada and Australia. Inevitably most countries placed quotas on the immigration of Jews.The possibility of self-determination and the safety associated with a Jewish homeland became a driving force when Theodore Herzl, a Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer, stated that Jews could never be safe in Europe, and so needed a homeland in which they could find refuge and a prosperous future.Jews had always been a presence in the Middle East, including but not limited to Palestine. They predated the existence of Christians and Muslims for many hundreds of years. Jews started emigrating to Palestine in increasingly large numbers, with the hope of achieving control over their lives.There is an abysmal lack of historical knowledge in the West about the Jews and Israel, so the libels persist. It is an indictment on those who harbour anti-semitic sentiments that they resort to new versions of medieval libels.We live in a highly sophisticated world where privilege and education should mean that these libels should sound as ridiculous as they are. Anti-semites behave like the ignorant, fearful and superstitious people of yore. It’s the modern equivalent of believing that witches exist, and that they deserve to suffer drowning or burning to rid the world of evil.A current example of the unabashed idiocy of the libels is at the rhetoric that followed Argentina’s win over Algeria. An Algerian sports analyst alleged on live television that Lionel Messi was shielded by a “Jewish lobby”.The libels about Jews are expressed freely, even though proof of them is never provided. For those who relish Jew-hatred, their mantras do nothing other than provide proof of the idiocy, venality and cruelty of the utterers.There were 9,5 million Jews living in Europe in 1939, out of world Jewry numbers of 16.6 million. By 1945, 6 million of them had been murdered as a result of this obscene hatred. As of 2026, the number of Jews worldwide has not reached the level of the 1939 Jewish population.Currently, Jews comprise about 0.2% of the world’s population. Yet they are considered to be a demonic threat to the whole world. It is a profoundly pathetic view to hold. And yet these views persist and, at best, make Jews feel unwelcome. At worst, they drive Jews to emigrate to escape feelings of vulnerability or worse.Jews have contributed to the societies that recognise Jews as full and free citizens. Judenfrei (Jew-free) societies are not better for losing their Jews; if anything, they lose a valuable contribution to their societies.The role of the HolocaustMany Western Jews have direct family links to the Holocaust. This unavoidably influences the lives of many Jews. For the Holocaust to be diminished or denied is a profound affront to the experience of those Jews who died because of it. So too to those Jews who lived through it and survived, and to the generations that succeeded them.The ‘politically correct’ and false Western paradigm of the Palestinians as helpless victims ensures that the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis can never be resolved. Despite the pressure to achieve peace, the Israelis are not the people who can achieve a peace. Resolution lies predominantly in the hands of the Palestinians, These people need to negotiate in good faith with the Israelis for a Palestinian state, and recognise Israel’s right to exist.The West has given enormous amounts of aid to the Palestinians. It is about time it demanded of the Palestinian leadership that the above conditions are met.It is often said that if the Palestinians laid down their arms, there would be peace, but if the Israelis did, Israel and the Israelis would cease to exist.Appeasement of hatred for the Jews is not just cowardice on the part of Western leadership. It is a betrayal of the best of Western values. False allegation of genocideIsrael has never committed genocide. The only way its accusers can allege it is by changing the definition to the killing of civilians during a war. One can hold the opinion that the death of 75,000 Palestinians in response to the heinous attacks by Hamas is excessive, even though it is estimated that nearly half of the deaths were combatants..Read more:. In-depth: The history of the Israel-Palestine conflict explained.Such deaths are tragic but do not comprise genocide or anything close. What are the Israelis expected to do? Stop tolerating the existence of haters who pursue their dreams of annihilating Israel?The importance of non-Jews to JewsThere is no doubt that Jews need the support of non-Jews to overcome the bizarre threats associated with antisemitism. In the West in particular, Jews need non-Jewish leadership to categorically and publicly challenge the antisemitism of the people they govern.They must leave the antisemites in no doubt that they will not tolerate such attitudes and will act to challenge them.Jews need allies in the non-Jewish community to support them to manage, if not overcome, this scourge: the irrational hatred of Jews..*Sara Gon is a Fellow of the SA Institute of Race Relations. She was an employee of the IRR for 10 years, in which time she helped develop the Daily Friend, latterly serving as its Contributing Editor. Her ‘hobby’ of writing letters to newspapers about South African politics landed her her role at the IRR. Prior to that, Gon was an attorney at Webber Wentzel, and was a co-founder and manager of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Gon now manages the Free Speech Union of South Africa, and is engaged in other projects..This article was first published by Daily Friend and is republished with permission..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

Sara Gon: The oldest hatred and its newest mutations: antisemitism's enduring lies

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